More Than Meets the Eye
by The Wicked Yveltal
Summary: After a war between people and Pokémon, Pokémon are viewed as dangerous creatures. Every five years, ten teenagers are chosen to train as warriors to fight Pokémon and protect their hometown. However, everything changes when Yellow, a girl with the ability to understand Pokémon, becomes one of the warriors in training.
1. Chapter 1: New Arrivals

**Author's Note:**

**In this story, people don't train Pokémon to battle others- they fight the Pokémon themselves.****I realize it would be a bit stupid to have the characters physically fight every single Pokémon, so I decided to have them use special items that imitate Pokémon attacks.****Each item has its own element, which you match up with a Pokémon's weaknesses to best fight them.****I didn't want to use every type because some of them are hard to make items for.****(Like water- what could you do for that?****Throw a water bottle at the Pokémon?****That'd just be stupid…)****So I decided to use just enough elements to make sure all the actual Pokémon types have at least one weakness.****For example, you would use a ground type attack on a fire type Pokémon, right?****In my story, the character would use an Earth element item (the element that matches up with the ground type) to fight a fire type.****I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing, but the items are the best way I could think of to have a person fight a Pokémon without getting completely thrashed.****Hopefully you'll get the hang of it as the story goes on.****Don't worry, there will be actual Pokémon versus Pokémon battles later on, but in the meantime, this is the style I will be using for human versus Pokémon battles.****Here's a list of the item elements that correspond to Pokémon types.**

**Earth= Ground & Rock**

**Fire= Fire (obviously)**

**Lightning= Electric**

**Magic= Fairy **

**Mysterious= Ghost & Dark**

**Nature= Grass & Poison **

**Physical fighting will represent the fighting type.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or its characters.**

Red stood in a clearing in the forest, facing a spiky yellow and white Pokémon on the other side of the clearing. The Pokémon was four-legged, with tall ears and black eyes. Electricity bristled along its fur, which was spiked up like needles, marking it clearly as an electric type Pokémon.

Red took out some Soft Sand, an earth element item, and threw it on the ground in front of him. The Pokémon jumped back and regarded the sand with wary eyes, clearly repelled by the grainy substance. This gave Red the opportunity to take out his Pokédex. Holding up the device in front of the Pokémon, Red used it to identify his opponent.

It wasn't long before words appeared on the screen of the Pokédex. _Jolteon, the__Lightning Pokémon__. __Its weapons are its 10,000-volt electric attacks and its spiky fur. Its sharp hair can pierce enemies when it bristles._

"So I was right!" said Red, grinning at the Jolteon. "You are an electric type Pokémon. Too bad I know just how to fight electric types!"

He took another item out of his bag, this time one called an Earth Stone. Jolteon snarled at the object, but Red was unfazed by the Pokémon's show of aggression. He threw the Earth Stone down on the ground, on the other side of the line of Soft Sand between himself and the Jolteon. The item lodged itself in the ground. A moment later, sharp rocks erupted from the ground, acting like the Pokémon attack Stone Edge and sending Jolteon flying backwards. It landed on its paws, but had clearly taken damage from the rocks. Red checked his Pokédex and saw that Jolteon had lost half of its HP.

Jolteon narrowed its eyes at Red and used Thunderbolt. However, the blast of electricity fizzled and died away when it tried to pass through the shield of Soft Sand in front of Red. Seeing that its attacks could not touch its opponent, the Jolteon twitched its ears in frustration, turned and fled deeper into the forest, forfeiting the battle.

"All right!" exclaimed Red happily. "I beat a Jolteon! And I managed to get some data on it too! Professor Oak will be pleased with me today."

The warrior in training retrieved his Earth Stone from where it remained lodged in the ground and dusted it off. A quick inspection told Red that the item had not gotten chipped or damaged in any way when he threw it at the ground. Satisfied, he pocketed the stone and headed back towards the village part of the grounds, hoping he would get the rest of the day off to hang out with his friends. However, as he neared the inhabited area, he noticed that there seemed to be some sort of commotion going on. Curious to know what was happening, Red approached the small group of people gathered.

Red soon noticed that one of the people in the group was Professor Oak, but the other two were people he had never met before. One was a boy with messy black hair and golden eyes, while the other was a much smaller girl with blonde hair and yellow eyes.

Red studied the girl intently. Something about her seemed familiar… He tried to remember if he had ever seen her before, but with no success.

Professor Oak turned at that moment and noticed him. "Ah, Red, I was hoping one of you or your friends would come along. There are two newcomers I would like you to meet. Red, this is Gold," he said, gesturing to the boy, who grinned, "and this is Yellow." The girl gave him a shy half-smile and Red smiled back. "They will be training here as warriors starting tomorrow. Gold and Yellow, this is Red. He is one of our warriors in training, and quite a skilled fighter."

"Nice to meet you," said Red to Gold and Yellow.

"You too!" said Gold, with a smirk.

"It's nice to meet you too," echoed Yellow more quietly.

"Red, I'd like you to show these two around so they don't get lost when they start their lessons tomorrow," explained Professor Oak. "You can tell me what kinds of Pokémon you encountered in the forest when you are finished doing that."

"Yes, professor," said Red. He would rather be spending time with his friends, but when the professors gave assignments, a warrior in training was expected to complete them. Besides, there was always a chance that Gold and Yellow would become his friends later on, and this was a great chance to get to know them. "You can count on me!"

"Thank you," said Professor Oak. "I'll been in my office, then."

After the professor left, Red turned to face his new classmates. "Uh… hey," he said.

"So, who else trains here?" asked Gold, looking hopeful for some reason.

"A lot of people, actually," said Red. "I'll introduce you to them later if you want, but I have to show you around the grounds first. So anyway, let's get going."

...

Yellow knew why there had to be warriors.

Not that long ago, humans and Pokémon lived in harmony. People trained Pokémon as partners for competitive battling. But many people began to mistreat their Pokémon and use them as slaves. The Pokémon fought for their freedom and a war began between the people and Pokémon. Pokémon turned on their trainers. The humans created special elemental items to rival the powers of Pokémon. They trained as warriors to fight against Pokémon. The battles between people and Pokémon were terrible and destructive. Many lost their lives in the war. At last a hero emerged who had the power to speak to Pokémon. This hero made peace between the two sides. The Pokémon would stop fighting the humans and return peacefully to the wild if the humans swore never again to imprison Pokémon. A truce was made and the war was ended.

Yet some Pokémon retained bitterness towards the humans. Those Pokémon were aggressive and would attack people who strayed into their territory. As people could no longer train Pokémon, and it was too dangerous to try to befriend them, humans needed a different way to defend themselves against these wild Pokémon. And therefore, people continued to train as warriors so they could defend their hometowns from the wild Pokémon. Every five years, the ten teenagers who were decided to have the most potential were selected to become warriors in training.

Yes, there had to be warriors. Yellow just didn't want one of them to be _her_.

"And here we are, back where we started," Red finished, snapping her out of her thoughts. Yellow and Gold had been getting a tour from Red, but Yellow hadn't been paying much attention. She had noted where each place was, just so she wouldn't get lost the next day, but her heart wasn't really in it. She had been too caught up in her thoughts about being a warrior in training.

"It seems like a really nice place," said Yellow politely, deciding that it would be rude not to say anything after all of Red's efforts to be friendly to the two newcomers. It was true; The Warrior Training School did seem like a lovely place. But that wasn't what Yellow was really worried about. The part that bothered her about being here was the reason why she was here. She hated the idea of having to fight anything- having to _hurt_ anything. Even if it was a Pokémon, and was therefore more likely to do damage to her than she was to do damage to it.

Red smiled kindly at her, oblivious to her thoughts. "It's great!" he agreed. "And my friends are all really cool! I think you'll like them a lot."

Yellow looked at Red intently, wondering if he recognized her. It had been a long time since they first met, about five years, but she remembered him perfectly. She blushed slightly at the thought, and then hurriedly dropped her gaze, hoping he didn't notice.

When she was nine years old, Yellow had wandered into the forest by her hometown, drawn there by voices only she seemed to hear. At first everything had seemed peaceful and quiet. She had wandered through the forest, alone despite the voices that seemed to speak from so close. Suddenly a blue shape emerged from the bushes and attacked- a Dratini! Yellow stood frozen, too terrified to flee. But then, another shape leaped in front of her, this one clearly human, shielding her from the Dratini. The rest of the struggle was a blur, in which the boy that rescued her defeated the Pokémon that attacked. Yellow remembered him helping her up and asking her if she was alright.

Yellow had nodded. "I'm Red," said the boy, smiling at her.

Yellow couldn't remember much of what had happened after that, including whether or not she had introduced herself to her savior. All she remembered was that Red had taken her away from the forest and helped her find her way home.

Yellow snapped out of her thoughts as Gold and Red began to walk away. She hurriedly followed them, jogging to catch up. Her small size meant that her legs were shorter than most other people's and she had to walk almost twice as fast as they did in order to keep up with them.

"Where are we going?" she asked Gold quietly, having missed most of the conversation while she was thinking about her past.

Gold grinned. "It's dinner time!" he said. "We get to meet the other warriors in training!"

Yellow couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. _I hope they're nice.__Red said I'd like his friends a lot.__But what if they don't like _me_?_

_Well, _she thought, _I guess there's only one way to find out…_


	2. Chapter 2: Meet My Friends!

**Author's Note: Please read and review!**

Chapter 2: "Meet My Friends!"

Red took Yellow and Gold to a building a few minutes' walk away from the forest. Yellow vaguely remembered from Red's tour that this was the dormitory for the warriors in training. The building had two floors. When they went inside, the first thing Yellow saw was a large living room that dominated the front of the house. Crossing through the living room, the group went through a door on the other side, which led to a dining room.

Yellow was slightly overwhelmed by the number of other people in the room. Four girls and three boys, not including Red, Yellow and Gold, were gathered around the long wooden table in the center of the room, most of them standing up, but a few already seated.

"Hey guys!" said Red cheerfully.

All the people who had already been in the room before the three of them walked in looked up curiously. Everything was quiet for a moment, and then nearly all of them started talking at once.

"Who're they?" asked a boy wearing a white hat.

"Ooh, new friends!" exclaimed a girl with blue eyes, brown hair, and a mischievous smile.

"What are your names?" asked a girl with brown eyes and brown hair.

There were several more voices, but Yellow couldn't make them out through all the excited chatter. She looked at Red, who gave her an apologetic glance.

"Okay everybody!" said Red loudly. The chattering died down as the warriors in training turned their attention to Red. "I'm sure Yellow and Gold want to meet you guys too, but they can't hear you if you all talk at once. Don't worry, I'll introduce you all, just… calm down."

Everyone still looked excited, but they were less noisy about it.

"Thanks," said Red, and then turned to the newcomers with a smile. "Sorry about that. My friends can be a little _loud_. Don't worry; they're not so bad when they aren't all grouped together. I'll introduce you guys to all of them individually, so you don't get assaulted with questions."

First Red led them over to the girl with blue eyes and brown hair. "This is Blue," he announced. "She's one of the warriors in training that have been here the longest. Her best skill is stealth. If she tried, she could probably go through the forest without attracting the attention of a single Pokémon. But she's tricky, so don't let her find out any of your secrets!"

Blue grinned at them. "Oh, don't listen to Red!" she said cheerfully. "I'm perfectly friendly and trustworthy!" She smiled winningly at Yellow. "You can talk to me about anything you want."

"Yeah right!" said Red, but he was obviously teasing her.

Blue laughed and Yellow relaxed a bit. She seemed friendly enough, although Yellow decided to believe Red, just in case he was right.

Next, Red introduced them to a boy with spiky brown hair and green eyes.

"Hey Green," he said. The boy looked over and nodded to them in greeting, before returning to whatever he was doing. Red turned to Yellow and Gold. "This is Green. He doesn't really talk much, but he's a really good warrior. We're rivals."

Red walked over to a friendly looking girl with brown eyes, brown hair and a white hat. "This is Lyra. She's the newest here besides you two, so if you have any questions about anything, she's the best one to ask. She's really friendly, too."

"Hi," said Lyra, smiling at them. "It's nice to meet you. You're Yellow and Gold, right?"

Yellow nodded and Gold said, "That's me!"

"Red's right, by the way," continued Lyra. "If you have any questions, you can talk to me!"

"Thanks," said Yellow, feeling glad that all the people she met so far were nice. _Maybe it won't be so bad here after all, _she thought.

"Hey Silver!" called Lyra to a boy with red hair who was standing across the room. "Come meet the newcomers! They want to get to know everyone."

The boy hesitated and then came over. Yellow wondered if he was shy or if he was like Green and just didn't talk much.

"This is Silver," Lyra explained. "He's pretty quiet most of the time, but he's nice once you get to know him. Right, Silver?"

"Yeah," he muttered, adding to Lyra, "I'll see you later."

Silver walked away and Lyra rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I think he's antisocial. Anyway, don't mind him if he doesn't talk to you much." Yellow thought she saw sympathy in Lyra's eyes, but she wasn't sure if it was directed towards her and Gold or towards Silver. She wondered if there was more to Silver than Lyra was telling, but decided it would be rude to pry. Besides, it wasn't any of her business whatsoever. She didn't really know any of them, except for maybe Red.

After that, Red took them over to meet a girl with dark blue hair and light blue eyes. Yellow noticed that Gold seemed particularly interested in this person.

"This is Crystal," introduced Red. "She's probably the smartest and most responsible one out of all of us. She's also really kind and spends most of her time doing volunteer work."

"Hey there!" said Gold with a grin.

"Hey," said Crystal with a friendly smile. "What do you think about the Warrior Training School so far? Do you like it here?"

"It's pretty nice," said Yellow.

"It's great!" said Gold. "I think I'm going to have _lots _of fun here." His wicked grin made Yellow wonder what Gold meant by that. It made her a little nervous. Of all the people she met so far, she knew the least about Gold, even though she had met him first. She wished he had already been going to the Warrior Training School before her. That way she would have someone to tell her about him.

The last two people were a girl wearing a bandana and the boy with the white hat. They were bickering with each other, but didn't really seem annoyed.

"Hey guys," said Red. "Yellow and Gold, this is Ruby and Sapphire. They argue with each other almost all the time, but they don't get along badly, even though they act like it. Ruby doesn't like to fight, but he knows a lot about battling. Sapphire is one of the best and most enthusiastic warriors here. She also loves being outdoors, so she's almost always outside."

"Hi," said Sapphire and Ruby in unison.

"See?" said Red. "They agree on some things."

"No, we don't," said Sapphire, at the same time as Ruby looked pleased and said, "That's what I said, but she insisted that we have nothing in common."

Sapphire glared. "That's because we don't!"

"Yikes!" said Red. "Geez, I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean to start an argument! C'mon guys, don't fight over it," he pleaded.

"You're lucky Red was here, or I would have beaten you up," said Sapphire to Ruby, but she had stopped looking so scary.

"Yeah, whatever," grumbled Ruby. Sapphire looked triumphant.

"Okay, guys, we'll see you later," said Red, and the group of three quickly made their getaway before another fight almost broke out. Luckily, Ruby and Sapphire's bickering didn't get too carried away this time. Once they were a safe distance, Gold asked, "Are they always like that?"

Red sighed. "Yup. That's Ruby and Sapphire."

He turned to Yellow, looking hopeful. "So what do you think of my friends?"

"They seem nice," said Yellow, as this was true of most of the other warriors in training. "I like them. Especially Lyra and Crystal." They seemed the friendliest.

"Especially Crystal," agreed Gold, looking quite pleased. Yellow wondered what that was about.

"Great!" said Red, looking relieved. "I knew you would!"

...

Gold thought that most of the warriors in training Red had introduced them to were nice enough, but the one who really caught his attention was Crystal. Ever since he found out that he was to become a warrior in training, he had been hoping that there were pretty girls there, and he was not disappointed. True, Crystal seemed like the serious and responsible type, but that wasn't something a little time and effort couldn't fix.

After dinner, the warriors in training were free to do whatever they pleased, as long as it wasn't law-breaking or life risking to any of the students or staff. So naturally, Gold decided to follow Crystal around and get her to talk to him.

Gold found Crystal reading a book in the living room. He sat down in the seat next to hers. She glanced up briefly to see who it was before returning to her book.

"Hey there," Gold said, when it became clear that she wasn't going to talk to him.

"Hey," Crystal replied, without looking up from her book.

"What are you reading?" he asked. "Can I see?" Before she had time to answer him, he snatched the book and closed it so he could see the back of it, deliberately losing her page. "Ooh, sounds interesting," he said, not bothering to actually read the summary. He tossed the book rather carelessly onto the glass table in front of the couch.

"Hey!" Crystal protested. "You lost my page!"

"That's okay," said Gold dismissively. "There are loads of better things to do than read."

"I like reading," said Crystal, going to retrieve her book.

"But that's so _boring_," Gold whined. "If you read, there's nothing for me to do."

Crystal looked surprised. "You don't have to stay in here. You can go hang out with one of the other warriors in training if you want something to do."

_Or… I could do this! _Gold thought slyly. He snatched Crystal's book again, but this time instead of putting it down, he ran away with it. _That ought to get her attention!__If she wants her book back, she'll have to come and get it!_

Gold darted across the room and up the staircase, not caring where it led. He heard footsteps behind him, and glanced over his shoulder. He was pleased to see that it was Crystal, chasing him. He grinned at her over his shoulder before returning his attention to seeing where he was going. He made it to the top of the stairs and dashed down the hallway the staircase led to.

Gold had a head start, but Crystal had the advantage of knowing where she was going. Gold made it to the end of the hallway, but it was a dead end. He spun around to face Crystal, who had him cornered, and held up her book with a mischievous grin.

"Looking for something?" he asked innocently.

Crystal sighed. "Give me back my book, Gold."

"Say 'please'," said Gold, hugely enjoying himself.

"Please?" said Crystal, although reluctantly.

"Okay," said Gold, pretending to hand it back, but then snatching it away again as if he remembered something. "Wait, one more thing."

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Come with me for lunch tomorrow."

Crystal shook her head. "I'm busy. I don't have time to fool around."

"Please?" said Gold, hoping he could convince her to agree.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I have better things to do."

"Better than going out with me?" asked Gold in mock surprise. "Impossible!"

Gold could have sworn that he saw the corner of her mouth twitch into a smile. "Are you always this persistent?" she asked, sounding somewhat amused.

Gold grinned, pleased to have gotten at least a half-smile out of Crystal. "When I'm determined, I'll never give up until I succeed!"

Crystal was quiet for a moment.

"So, will you go out with me?" Gold asked.

Crystal hesitated and then shook her head. "No."

"Fine," said Gold, handing her back her book. _I may not be able to convince you today, but I meant what I said, _he thought. _When I'm determined, I'll never give up until I succeed!_


	3. Chapter 3: A Dream and a Warning

**Author's Note: Thank you IlyPickachuuu and Larnise for reviewing my story. :) I'm glad you like it.**

**Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

Chapter 3: A Dream and a Warning

Yellow dreamed she was walking in the woods. She couldn't tell if it was the forest near her hometown or if it was the one on the grounds of the Warrior Training School, as she had never been in the latter. Regardless of which forest this was, it reminded her eerily of the one she had ventured into as a child, in the peaceful moment right before the Dratini that Red saved her from attacked. The thought made her remember the panic that followed it, and she shuddered in fear.

A moment later, as if the forest was responding to her memories, a Pokémon emerged from the bushes. Yellow leaped back with a squeal of terror.

It only took the girl a moment to realize this was not the same Pokémon that had attacked her as a child. This Pokémon was mostly white, with beautiful feathery wings sprouting from its shoulders. It was four legged, with a dark blue tail, face and claws. It had a single horn on the side of its head, which was also dark blue. The Pokémon regarded her with intelligent red eyes.

_Peace, human, _said the Pokémon, its voice speaking in Yellow's mind. _I have not come to hurt you.__The battle between our kinds means nothing to me._

Yellow was surprised. "You can talk?" she asked.

The Pokémon hesitated. _To you I can, _it replied. _But that is not important now._It bowed its head to her. _My name is Absol.__I have come to warn you._

"What do you mean?" asked Yellow, feeling anxious. "Is something bad going to happen?"

_History will repeat itself, _answered Absol. _My prophecy will be fulfilled once again._

"Your prophecy?" echoed Yellow. "But I've never heard anything in history about a prophecy, much less a prophecy spoken by a Pokémon."

_Ignorance of the truth does not make that truth false._

"I'm sorry," replied Yellow, realizing that her words had sounded rude. "That wasn't what I meant. I just don't know what your prophecy is."

_Remember, history was written by humans, _said Absol, more gently this time. _And therefore, much of that history is lost in bias, young one, perhaps the most important parts of all.__There was indeed a prophecy, and it will come true again, regardless of any who attempt to stand in its way.__Do not try to change anyone's fate, whether it is yours or another's, for those who change the future often change it for worse. _ The Absol's gaze was serious.

"Which part is the warning, the prophecy or you telling me not to try to change it?" Yellow asked, but the Pokémon had already vanished. A moment later, Yellow noticed that fog was beginning to shroud the area. She glanced around nervously. All this mist would make it almost impossible to find her way back out of the forest.

Just as she was about to panic, the dream vanished and Yellow woke up.

_Where am I? _Yellow wondered, and a moment later remembered the previous day's events. She was in one of the bedrooms on the left side of the house, where all the girls had their rooms. She remembered Crystal telling her that there were two wings of the building- one for the boys and one for the girls. Each wing had eight bedrooms. Yellow had been confused- there were only ever ten warriors in training at a time, not sixteen- until Crystal explained that there wasn't always an even number of boys and girls, so they had to have extra rooms in each wing, just in case there was, for example, eight girls and two boys. There were four rooms on each floor. Yellow was on the top floor, along with Sapphire and Crystal, while Lyra and Blue were in bedrooms downstairs.

Yellow glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly seven-thirty. In a half hour, she would be having her first class as a warrior in training. The thought made her both excited and nervous, chasing away all thoughts of her dream for the moment.

Yellow got ready and then went downstairs. When she entered the dining room, she saw that Blue, Green, Crystal, Silver and Lyra were already there. They greeted her with a variety of "Hello's" and "Good morning's", and in Green's case, just a nod. Yellow smiled and took a seat. She wondered where Sapphire and the majority of the boys were.

"They're late sleepers, the lot of them," explained Blue when Yellow asked about it. "They never get up early for anything. Well, almost anything." Blue grinned as if thinking about something funny, which made Yellow curious, but after a moment of consideration, she decided not to ask.

Yellow was almost finished eating when Red, Gold and Ruby walked in. Red smiled at her and said, "Good morning," causing her to blush shyly. She tried to hide it by turning her face away and drinking some water. Meanwhile, Gold grinned at Crystal and said, "Good morning." Crystal's reaction was a bit different than Yellow's. She replied, "Good morning, Gold," but warily way rather than friendly or slightly embarrassed, as Yellow would have expected. Yellow wondered why, but once again, she didn't ask. Ruby just said a brief, "Morning," to everyone and sat down.

"So, what do you guys think about having your first class?" asked Red, directing his question at Yellow and Gold. "Are you excited?"

"A little," said Yellow. "I'm mostly nervous."

"Don't be," said Red. "Classes aren't that hard. And I'll help you if you need me to."

"Aww," said Blue, grinning. "That's so cute!"

Yellow and Red both blushed and Gold laughed.

Crystal saved them. "Hey guys, look at the time," she said, taking the group's attention off of the embarrassed Red and Yellow. "We should be heading to class."

"What about Sapphire?" asked Yellow, relieved to have something else to talk about.

"Don't worry about her," answered Ruby. "She'll get up on her own and usually isn't too late."

"Right here," answered Sapphire at the same time, jumping down the last three steps of the staircase on the left side of the living room as they walked through the doorway that connected the living room and dining room.

"Okay," said Crystal. "We should go."

"Geez, you're so serious," said Gold. "If Sapphire doesn't get in trouble for being a little late, than that means the rest of us can take our time, too, right?"

Crystal glared at him. "Gold! That's not the point."

"Just asking," he said.

The group of warriors in training went outside and walked towards the forest. Yellow remembered Red saying they had class in the forest sometimes, when it involved actual combat. She wondered what the lesson would be about and hoped that she wouldn't have to do any fighting.

The ten of them went into the forest. Yellow noticed that it seemed familiar. _This is the forest from my dream! _she realized. _I wonder if that Pokémon I met really lives here._It wasn't long before the group reached a clearing not far into the forest and all thoughts of Yellow's dream were once again pushed to the back of her mind.

In the clearing stood Professor Oak. "Good morning," he greeted the group. "Today's lesson will be about identifying the type of an unknown Pokémon based on its appearance and behavior. I will explain some of the feature of certain types. After I am finished explaining, I will have you practice identifying Pokémon in this forest."

"Today, I will tell you only about the types of Pokémon that live in this forest, as it will take more than one lesson to explain the behaviors and features of every Pokémon type," Professor Oak continued. "The bug type is a type that commonly appears in wooded areas. Most bug type Pokémon have insect-like wings and many legs, ranging from four to eight. They mostly appear in swarms, rather than individually. As a review for our newcomers, who can tell me what types bug Pokémon are weak to? First tell me the Pokémon types, then the item element we use."

Red raised his hand and was called on. "Bug types are weak to fire, rock, and flying attacks. So we would use a fire element item."

"That is correct," said Professor Oak, clearly pleased. "Next is the flying type," he continued. "Flying type Pokémon almost always have wings, and often have feathers. Most flying types resemble either birds or dragons. Some bug type Pokémon are also flying types, usually those who have wings. Alright, what types are flying type Pokémon weak to? Blue?"

"M-me?" stammered Blue, looking uncharacteristically nervous and pale. "Um…"

"Flying types are weak to electric, rock and ice," said Silver, to Blue's obvious relief. "You would use a lightning element item to fight them."

"Very good, Silver," said Professor Oak. "Although next time, I would have preferred Blue to answer the question I asked her."

Silver muttered something that sounded like, "Sorry."

Yellow tilted her head at Blue, concerned and confused. What was that about? Why had Blue acted so weird? And why had Silver interrupted her to answer? It seemed like there was something more to this than just participating in the lesson. But Yellow was completely confused as to what. Things just didn't add up right, like she was missing something.

Blue noticed Yellow looking at her and shook her head as if to say, _Not now._

This made Yellow even more curious, but she didn't push the older girl. If she didn't want to tell, then there was nothing Yellow could do about it. Besides, this matter clearly bothered Blue, and Yellow didn't want to make that any worse.

She turned her attention back to the lesson.

"Water type Pokémon often have gills or fins," Professor Oak was explaining. "They almost always live in the water, meaning that they rarely bother humans who don't walk close to the shore. Water types are one of the easiest Pokémon types to identify. If a Pokémon emerges from the water, you can assume that it is a water type. What types are water Pokémon weak to?"

Green raised his hand and said, "Water types are weak to electric and grass attacks. Either a nature item or electric item can be used effectively on them."

"Correct," said Professor Oak. "Another type common in the forest is the normal type. Normal type Pokémon are tricky to identify. They are usually brown or cream in color and are one of the least aggressive types of Pokémon. Many normal Pokémon appear friendly, but in reality, they are just as dangerous as any other Pokémon type, perhaps more so due to their diverse move types. Normal types have just one weakness, and that is…"

"Fighting!" exclaimed Red.

"Indeed," said Professor Oak. "Normal Pokémon are not weak to any item element, so we use physical combat to imitate the fighting Pokémon type."

Yellow thought that sounded a bit dangerous, but she didn't say anything.

"Finally, the last type I will tell you about today is the grass type. Grass type Pokémon often resemble plants. They are adept at using moves that restore their health in battle, so that makes them difficult to defeat. Grass type Pokémon can be very sturdy. They are usually powerful defensively, which also doesn't help. But if you exploit their weaknesses, you should be able to defeat them much more quickly. Who can tell me what types grass type Pokémon are weak to?"

"Grass type Pokémon are weak to fire, bug, flying, poison and ice type Pokémon attacks," Crystal volunteered. "Fire element items work well on them, too."

"Very good," replied Professor Oak. "Now we will do some practice."

He led them a bit deeper into the woods. Occasionally, he would point out a Pokémon for them to identify the type of.

"Ruby, what type of Pokémon is that?" Professor Oak asked, gesturing to a brown bird-like Pokémon that was perched in a tree.

"Um… flying and maybe… normal?"

"Very good. You are correct."

Yellow was impressed. For someone who didn't like to battle, Ruby really did know a lot about Pokémon. Maybe she could be like Ruby, helpful and smart without having to fight anything.

"Lyra, what type is that Pokémon?" Professor Oak indicated a Pokémon that resembled a bee.

"Bug type," the girl responded confidently.

"Yes, very good," said Professor Oak. "It is also another type, one that I haven't taught you about yet. Would you like to take a guess on what type that would be?"

"Um… flying type?" she suggested.

"A reasonable guess, but incorrect. It is a poison type, as shown by its stinger."

"Okay," said Lyra. "A poison type. Got it."

The next Pokémon Professor Oak pointed out was a green Pokémon with spiky thorns on its head and two roses on its arms, one blue and the other red. "Ah, what type of Pokémon is that? Would you like to try this one, Yellow?"

Yellow nodded. "That's a grass type."

"That is correct. What do you think its second type is?"

Yellow looked at the Pokémon. It looked pretty friendly, which made her think it might be a normal type. But then she looked at the spikes on its head. _What if that's like the stinger on the bee Pokémon?__Could it be a poison type?_She weighed the two choices in her mind before making her choice. "Is it a poison type Pokémon?"

"Very good," said Professor Oak with a smile. "I believe that this lesson is enough for one day. Well done, all of you. Especially you, Yellow. I believe you will do very well as a warrior in training." He smiled warmly at her and she beamed back at him. "That is all. You may be dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4: The Start of a Friendship

**Author's Note: Thank you everyone for reviewing! :) I really appreciate it.**

**I usually update whenever I'm finished writing and proofreading the next chapter. That means that updates are pretty frequent right now, but when school starts up again, I probably won't have a lot of time to write and post chapters, so I apologize if I don't update a lot during the school year.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or its characters.**

Chapter 4: The Start of a Friendship

Green tried to ignore the chattering of the other warriors in training as the group headed back to their dormitory. He wanted to remember as much of the lesson as possible so he could take notes on the information he had learned. He knew that the others would make comments about this- they always did, saying he was too serious for his own good when it came to classes- but he felt as if the others weren't taking their studies seriously enough. Warrior Training School was supposed to prepare you to protect your hometown from wild Pokémon. At this rate, all the other warriors in training would never be prepared to have that responsibility, except for maybe Crystal.

So Green kept his distance from the antics of the other warriors in training. He didn't want their foolishness to distract him from the real reason they were all here, which, contrary to what all the others seemed to believe, wasn't to make friends.

Despite his resolve not to get involved in the conversations of the others, he felt the need to intervene when he noticed that Blue was talking to Yellow.

"I hope you aren't corrupting the newcomer," said Green, walking over to the two girls and scowling at Blue. He knew it annoyed her when he acted stern.

"Of course I'm not!" said Blue rather indignantly. "I was just asking her what she thought of her first lesson here." She turned back to Yellow. "So, how was it?"

"It was pretty interesting!" said Yellow enthusiastically. "I expected the lessons to all be about fighting, but I'm glad that they aren't. It's much easier not to have to fight all the time." Green noticed that Yellow seemed rather relieved as she said this. He wondered why she was chosen to become a warrior in training if she so clearly didn't like conflict.

"I remember my first class," said Blue, grinning at the memory. "It was hilarious!"

"Don't tell her that story," interrupted Green. "You'll only give the poor girl nightmares." Green really didn't want to hear about Blue's first lesson. He did his best to avoid thinking about it, but the memory still haunted him sometimes…

Yellow looked curious but remained quiet.

"Spoil sport!" complained Blue. "Ruining all of my fun…"

Green rolled his eyes, half annoyed, half amused. He was quite fond of Blue, although he would never admit that aloud to anyone, much less Blue herself. It was… weird. Blue was just so completely different from anyone else he knew. Therefore, it was natural that he would feel a bit differently about her than anyone else… Right? He adamantly pushed away any other theories about his feelings for Blue. He couldn't possibly like her like _that_…

Yellow suddenly let out a little gasp as if remembering something. "Hey Green?" she said.

"What?" he asked, mildly curious and relieved to be distracted from his thoughts.

"I wanted to ask you something…" said Yellow. "About a certain Pokémon."

"Go ahead," Green replied, waiting.

Yellow frowned. "I- I can't remember its name now…"

"What did it look like?"

"It was mostly white… It had wings, too, and a little bit of blue on it."

"Was it Lugia?" Green asked.

"No… I know it wasn't that…" said Yellow. "Oh! Absol. That's what its name was! What do you know about the Pokémon Absol? Do any of them live in this forest, for instance?"

Green frowned, still thinking about her description. "That can't be right," he said. "Absol doesn't have wings. Are you sure you aren't thinking about a different Pokémon?"

Yellow shook her head. "It said… I know it was Absol. And I know it had wings."

"Weird," said Blue, who had been, unsurprisingly, listening in on their conversation. " I mean, not that I know anything about Absol. I've never even heard of it before. But Green knows a lot about Pokémon. I don't think he would have any false information. Not that we don't believe you," she added hurriedly to Yellow. "I just think it's strange, that's all…"

Yellow seemed to be thinking deeply about what Blue and Green said.

"In any case, Absol is a dark type Pokémon called the Disaster Pokémon," explained Green. "No one knows for sure if it actually causes natural disasters, or simply shows itself as a warning, but it is known to appear before disasters occur. It's considered bad luck to see Absol anywhere near human settlements. If you do, disasters will most likely strike. That's what I've read anyway," he said. "I've never actually seen an Absol. They're very rare and very dangerous fighters."

Yellow shuddered as if she found this creepy. Green didn't blame her.

"Thanks anyway," said Yellow, before running away.

"I wonder what that was about," commented Blue after a moment.

"Of course you do, you're Blue," said Green. "Knowing you, you're nosy enough to try to figure it out. Do what you want, but don't get me involved. Personally, I think that it isn't really any of our business what Yellow does."

Blue watched the younger girl leave. "Maybe you're right…"

Green was surprised. Was Blue actually _agreeing _with him? In a matter like this?

"…but that's not going to stop me from figuring it out!" finished Blue with a wicked grin. "No one can keep secrets from me!"

Of course not… Green sighed.

...

Yellow waited until after dinner before she went into the forest.

She had thought about what Green told her about Absol for most of the day. She had learned a lot from Green, even if he hadn't directly answered the questions that she had been pondering. Green had said he hadn't ever seen an Absol before- but that didn't mean there weren't any in the forest. After having class in the woods on the Warrior Training School's grounds, she was certain it was the same forest from her dream. And she had learned that Absol was known to appear before disasters. That meant that whatever Absol's prophecy was, it probably foretold danger. But Yellow had yet to find out exactly what Absol had predicted for the future.

After careful consideration, Yellow decided to venture into the forest and look for the mysterious winged Absol. The only way she could think of to find out more about Absol's prophecy was to ask Absol itself, and that meant she had to find it.

Yellow borrowed some elemental items from Red so that she wouldn't be going into the forest unprepared. She didn't tell him her plans to head into the forest, knowing that he would probably want to come with her and not wanting to put him in danger. Instead, she told him that she was borrowing the items because she wanted to have an idea of what kind of tools she would be using later on in her training. She felt guilty lying to her friend, but she knew she would feel even worse if she let him come with her and he got hurt because of her.

So Yellow snuck out alone into the forest after dinner. The forest was eerily quiet, although not silent. All the noises in the woods sounded distant and spooky, as if far away. The sun was setting, illuminating parts of the forest in gold, but casting long, dark shadows. Yellow imagined she saw glowing red eyes gazing piercingly out of the bushes, just watching her. Too far to strike her from their hiding places, but near enough to pursue her, should she try to run…

Yellow felt a prickle of fear in her stomach and wondered if coming here was a mistake.

"Absol?" she called hesitantly, starting to get desperate. "Are you here?"

She thought she heard voices whispering through the trees, soft and mysterious. She remembered hearing voices the day she wandered into the woods as a child. She wondered if they were luring her back now, trying to finish her off, since Red had rescued her from their clutches as a child. She began to tremble slightly, knowing that there was no Red here to save her now…

"Absol!" she cried. "If you're here, please come out!"

The forest was chillingly silent for a moment. Yellow began to wish she had never come here at all. She backed away and tried to retrace her steps, to return to the forest's entrance.

But she never got that far. Arms grabbed her and she screamed in terror. She twisted around to see her attacker and her stomach dropped in horror when she realized that it was a _tree._ The forest was haunted! She squirmed, trying not to panic, but her heart thudded in her chest.

"Help!" she shrieked. "Please! Someone help me!" A moment later, the tree wrapped one of it vines around her face, effectively preventing her from crying out. Fear made it difficult to think about anything except getting away. She tried to calm down.

_Hang on, _she thought. _Trees can't come to life._ She suddenly remembered Professor Oak's words from the lesson earlier that day. _Grass type Pokémon often resemble plant_s. _This isn't a tree, _she realized. _It's a Pokémon!__A grass type Pokémon!_

Yellow tried to reach her bag, but the tree Pokémon seemed to know what she was up to and wrapped its vines around her arms, preventing her from moving them. _You can't escape from me, _its malicious eyes seemed to taunt. _You'll be trapped here forever!_

Yellow began to panic again. _What do I do now?_

Suddenly, light blazed in front of her eyes. The Pokémon that was holding her shuddered and released her. Yellow fell painfully on the ground and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, the creepy tree Pokémon was gone.

_What happened? _she wondered. She couldn't help but think that this was almost a repeat of what happened last time she went in the forest alone. _Am I dreaming?_She sat up and looked around, half expecting to see a younger version of Red offering to help her up.

Yellow was shocked to see that the only thing in sight other than herself was a little yellow Pokémon that resembled a mouse. It had a red circle on each cheek that made it appear rather adorable and its long ears were tipped with black. It had three brown stripes on its back and a lightning bolt shaped tail. The Pokémon stood on two legs, with its head tilted slightly to the side, as if it possessed an almost human curiosity.

_Did _you_rescue me? _she wondered briefly, but almost instantly remembered Professor Oak's warning that even Pokémon who appeared friendly were dangerous and dismissed the thought. She tensed up as the yellow Pokémon bounded towards her a few paces, before pausing and standing up again. It twitched its ears in a deceptively cute manner.

Yellow reached for her bag slowly, trying not to spook the creature into attacking. It watched her movements with that strange human-like curiosity.

Yellow dragged her bag over to her and paused. She didn't know what type of Pokémon this was. She tried to think if it matched any of the type descriptions Professor Oak had taught them, but couldn't think of anything other than normal, as this Pokémon was rather friendly looking, at least compared to the tree Pokémon that attacked her. She hoped that wasn't the case- she wasn't looking forward to having to physically fight anything, much less without any training.

_What other types are there? _Yellow thought, trying to remember. She looked at the Pokémon in front of her. She paused, noticing its lightning bolt shaped tail. _Electric type! _she thought. _That's definitely one of them!_ _But what would be effective against that?_

She reached into her bag to see what kind of items she had. But the moment she tried to take them out of her bag, the Pokémon dropped to all fours and released sparks from its cheeks. Yellow let out a yelp of fear and dropped her bag. The Pokémon instantly relaxed and looked curious again, rather than hostile. It scampered forward and sniffed her bag.

Yellow was perplexed. Everything she had learned about Pokémon led her to believe that they were dangerous creatures that attacked the moment you entered their territory. But this Pokémon, for whatever reason, didn't seem at all aggressive, except for when she seemed to be preparing to attack _it_ first. First a winged Absol, now this? Why was every Pokémon she encountered unusual?

"Hello…" she said to the Pokémon experimentally.

"Pika?" replied the Pokémon, tilting its head to the side.

Yellow wondered absentmindedly what the name of this Pokémon was. But it didn't really matter at the moment. Yellow realized that she had to decide whether to try to fight this Pokémon, run away or wait for it to leave and hope it didn't attack.

She almost automatically ruled out fighting. She hadn't had any real training yet and to be honest, she felt bad about hurting something so cute.

That left her two options: run away or stay here.

Yellow thought that running away was more practical than remaining in the woods… and yet she had a strange feeling that this Pokémon might have been the one who rescued her from the Pokémon that attacked her. After all, it was the only one in the area, and the blaze of light she had seen could have been some sort of electric attack. But why would the Pokémon save her?

_Because I called for help, _she realized. _Maybe it somehow understood me and came to rescue me.__But that's… impossible…_

Yellow paused. _Maybe it's not, _she thought. She remembered the legend of the war, how it had been ended by a hero who could speak to Pokémon. She remembered asking Absol in her dream if it could talk, and its strange reply, _To you I can._

"Can you understand me?" Yellow asked the mouse Pokémon.

"Pika!" exclaimed the Pokémon with a nod.

Yellow frowned. _Then why can't I understand you?_

_You can if you try!_

Yellow blinked in shock. The second thought had not been her own. But she had heard the voice in her mind…

_That's right! _she realized, once again thinking back on her dream about Absol. She had heard the Pokémon's voice only in her mind that time as well. She had assumed that Absol had been speaking with telepathy, as some Pokémon did in the legends, but now she was sure that she had the ability to hear the thoughts of Pokémon.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Was that you who talked to me?" she asked the Pokémon.

Instead of listening for a voice out loud, Yellow cleared her mind and relaxed. She imagined she was listening for the spirit of the Pokémon, waiting for it to speak to her.

_Yes, that was me! _came a friendly female voice in Yellow's mind. _I usually can't talk to humans, but I can talk to you!__Please don't use your items on me, _she added. _I don't like to fight, but most people don't realize that and they try to battle me whenever I encounter them._

"I'm sorry," said Yellow, feeling bad that she had been considering attacking the Pokémon. "We've all learned that Pokémon are dangerous creatures, so we learn to fight to defend our towns. Most people don't realize that you don't want to fight us. Until now, I didn't either."

_That's alright, _replied the Pokémon. _Most Pokémon think the same thing about humans._

Yellow was surprised. She had always thought that Pokémon attacked because of a grudge about the war. She hadn't realized that Pokémon and humans thought the same way.

_Anyway, my name's Pikachu, but you can call me ChuChu for short, _said the Pokémon. _What's your name?_

"I'm Yellow," Yellow replied.

_It's nice to meet you, Yellow._

"It's nice to meet you too."

_What are you doing out in the forest at this time anyway? _asked ChuChu. _After sundown, the wild Pokémon come out, the ones that really do hate humans.__Even other Pokémon stay away from them.__Humans should be especially careful._

"I didn't know," answered Yellow. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning."

_No problem, _said ChuChu happily.

Suddenly there was a rustling sound in the leaves. ChuChu twitched her ears, looking away into the trees. The wind whistled ominously through the forest.

_I'd better go, _said ChuChu. _You should, too.__It isn't safe for anyone to hang around in the forest when its dark, much less a human._

"Okay," said Yellow, shuddering slightly.

_Take care, Yellow, _added ChuChu.

"Bye, ChuChu," said Yellow.

The Pikachu scampered off into the forest, leaving Yellow alone. Not eager to remain in the woods by herself, Yellow stood up, grabbed her bag and ran as fast as she could the way she had come. She kept an eye out for any tree Pokémon, but thankfully, none of them attacked her. It wasn't long before she safely reached the edge of the woods.

_I made it, _she thought in relief. _I am never going into the forest alone again._


	5. Chapter 5: Legends and Secrets

**Author's Note: Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or its characters.**

Chapter 5: Legends and Secrets

After class- in which the warriors in training learned how to identify ground, electric, rock, ice, fire, fighting and steel type Pokémon, along with the item elements and Pokémon types they were weak to- Yellow came up with a new idea to find out more about Absol's prophecy. She had decided that looking for Absol in the forest was too dangerous. But experience wasn't the only way to learn; if Green had read about the Pokémon Absol, so could Yellow.

Yellow remembered from Red's tour of the grounds that there was a library not far from the warrior in trainings' dormitory. So when the group passed by the library on their way back from class, Yellow stopped there with the excuse that she wanted to see if the library had any of the books she liked. Pushing open the wooden doors, Yellow entered the large building.

The first thing Yellow noticed was that the interior of the library had a feeling of mystery. The building was quite dark inside, despite the day being bright outside, and the sun being far from setting. All the lights were off, but when she walked by them, they flickered to life. Closer inspection startled Yellow with the realization that they were not electric lights, but bright candles. This gave Yellow the slightly haunting impression that the building was very old, and therefore must have multiple secrets. She was tempted to stop and investigate further and had to make a conscious effort to keep moving towards her destination: the shelves labeled _Pokémon._

Yellow was aware that her footsteps echoed ominously as she made approached the shelves. She noticed that this pathway was already lit, suggesting that there was someone else besides herself in the library. She took one of the candles off the nearest table and held it up to see by. There didn't appear to be anyone there… Slightly spooked, Yellow turned the corner…

…and came face to face with a pair of silver eyes.

Yellow gave a yelp of surprise and jumped back, nearly dropping her candle. Her heart thudded wildly until she realized that the person was Silver.

"Oh," he said curtly. "It's just you."

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" said Yellow.

Silver shrugged, muttering an apology that didn't really sound sincere. He leaned back against the shelf he was standing beside and regarded her with narrowed eyes. "If you don't want to be scared, you shouldn't be wandering around alone in a dark building."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Yellow, feeling slightly unnerved.

"I suggest you do," replied Silver. He looked at her for a moment longer before turning away.

Yellow watched him leave, before turning to the shelf he had been leaning against. She noticed almost instantly that one of the books was missing, leaving an obvious gap in its place. She wondered if Silver had taken the book, or someone else had. Based on his recent appearance just in front of the shelf, it was most likely the former.

Shaking away other thoughts that surfaced regarding the matter, Yellow returned to the real reason she had come here. She quickly scanned the shelves with her eyes, before selecting a book titled _The Dark Type Pokémon Encyclopedia._ After all, Green _had_ told her that Absol was a dark type Pokémon. Of course, there was always the possibility that this was the very book Green had gotten his information from, in which case looking through it would be pointless for her. However, it was worth a try. Yellow opened the book to the first page.

It was clear from just a glance that the book was not in alphabetical order, so Yellow flipped to a random page. An image of a large red and black fox-like Pokémon caught her eye.

"Zoroark," she read aloud, "the Illusion Fox Pokémon. Stories say those who tried to catch Zoroark were trapped in an illusion and punished." She shuddered at this and flipped hurriedly to another page. This one showed another black and red Pokémon, this one with a white mane.

"Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon," Yellow read. "Folklore has it that on moonless nights, this Pokémon will make people see horrific nightmares."

Severely spooked, Yellow once again quickly flipped the pages. This time she did not pause to read about Pokémon that caught her eye, merely glancing at them to see if they were the Pokémon she was looking for. No matter what ChuChu said about Pokémon not being as dangerous as people believed them to be, these dark type Pokémon were creatures that Yellow would never want to meet.

Before long, Yellow found the right page.

"Absol, the Disaster Pokémon," she read out loud. "Every time Absol appears before people, it is followed by a disaster such as an earthquake or a tidal wave. As a result, it came to be known as the disaster Pokémon." She read the entire page about Absol, but could discover nothing about it that Green had not told her, except that it sometimes dwelled in the mountains.

Disappointed not to find any more information, but quite relieved to put down the rather creepy book, Yellow returned _The Dark Type Pokémon Encyclopedia _to its shelf. She was about to leave the library, but another book caught her eye.

"_Pokémon Myths and Legends_," Yellow read. _Maybe this will have what I'm looking for._She removed the book from the shelf and sat back down at the nearby table she had been reading on. She flipped it open to the table of contents.

Yellow saw nothing about Absol or its prophecy, but she did see the story of the hero from the Pokémon war. Remembering that he too was said to have had the ability to talk to Pokémon, Yellow decided to read his story, hoping to learn more about her newfound powers.

_In the midst of a war between Pokémon and people, there emerged a human being with the ability to hear the thoughts of Pokémon.__While other humans and Pokémon hated each other with a burning passion, this person wished for peace.__He went on a quest to meet with the leader of the people, to request an end to the war.__Along the way, he teamed up with two loyal Pokémon who also wished for the struggle between people and Pokémon to end.__It was upon meeting these two that the human realized that he had the ability to understand the voices of Pokémon. __Together, the human and the two Pokémon made it to the village of the people's leader._

_When the human asked the leader of his side for peace, the people's leader called him a traitor for uniting with Pokémon and refused to grant his request.__However, the group of three were determined.__They traveled to the leader of the Pokémon, and made the same request.__The leader of the Pokémon also refused to make peace and considered the two Pokémon disloyal for befriending a human, when it was humans who imprisoned so many of their kind.__Discouraged, the three friends wondered if there was no redemption for their kinds.__They traveled far away, seeking a place where the war would not threaten their friendship.__The two Pokémon pledged their loyalty and powers to help the human to the best of their ability.__The human swore never to use the Pokémon for their strength._

_Their journey was dangerous and exhausting.__Many times along the way, the group of three wondered if they should just give up, if there really was no place where people and Pokémon could live in harmony.__But they continued onward.__There came a moment when the group was traveling in the forest that a tree fell, straight towards the human.__One of the Pokémon pushed its friend out of the way, taking the worst of the damage from the tree.__The injury might have been fatal, but the human, horrified that his friend had been hurt helping him, used his own energy to restore the health of the Pokémon.__And thus, the human discovered he had a talent for healing. _

_Meanwhile, both sides believed that the human and his two Pokémon were dead.__The next time they clashed in battle, the struggle was brutal and neither side won.__Both sides lost much that day.__The leaders of both sides remembered the three friends who had come together, a true team, to ask for peace.__They regretted now that they had not listened, for so many lives had been wasted for their blindness.__Both leaders sent their best men and Pokémon, respectively, to search for the three heroes, in the hope that they were not dead.__At first none were successful.__But when the two opposing sides worked together, they were able to find the hero and his Pokémon._

_The group of three returned when they realized the leaders' regret.__Again they requested peace between the two sides, and the leaders, having recognized the error in their ways, agreed to make peace.__A treaty was made between the leaders.__The humans swore to never again imprison and enslave Pokémon.__The Pokémon agreed to stop attacking humans._

_The three friends were forced to part ways, for despite the fact that they saw each other as equals and helped each other of their own free will, while they remained a team, the human was still a trainer and the Pokémon still his servants.__However, they would always remember each other as friends and fellow heroes.__And heroes they were, for they had saved many lives with their peace and made their world a better place._

Yellow thought that the end sounded a bit like something from a children's tale, but was pleased that the story had a good ending. She had enjoyed the legend, something that didn't happen often when it came to history. She revisited the table of contents and skimmed through the other legends, but saw nothing that really interested her, so she returned the book to its rightful place on the shelf.

_The legend mentioned something about the hero having a talent for healing, _thought Yellow as she picked up her candle to put it back where she found it. _I wonder if I have healing powers too…__That would be really cool!_The discovery excited her and she wished she could tell someone about it, maybe even test out her powers to see if they really existed. But if she were to talk to one of the other warriors in training about possibly having healing powers, she would also have to tell them about her ability to talk to Pokémon. She was hesitant to do so, as she didn't really know any of them well enough to guess their reactions. What if they thought that her powers made her a traitor, like in the legend? That was a risk Yellow wasn't willing to take.

_ChuChu knows about my powers though, _Yellow thought. _Maybe I can talk to her about this.__After all, she wasn't at all surprised about my ability to talk to Pokémon…__Maybe she'll know something about these healing powers too!_

After brief consideration, Yellow decided that talking to ChuChu was a good idea. It was late afternoon now, and Yellow didn't want to risk running into anymore hostile Pokémon, so she thought it would be best to look for her friend tomorrow.

It was really strange, Yellow realized, that only a few days ago, she had been terrified of Pokémon, and now one of them seemed to be her closest friend. Yellow wasn't really shy, except maybe around Red, but she certainly wasn't the most outgoing person when it came to talking to people she didn't know. People usually saw her as shy and naïve, and combined with her small size, this made people think of her as younger than she actually was. She didn't really mind all that much, but it made people treat her as a little kid, not really as someone to be friends with. And therefore, while she was nice to people, and they were nice back, Yellow didn't have any close friends.

_Maybe that will change, _Yellow thought. _Maybe if I become a good warrior, people will stop underestimating me.__They'll see that I'm not some little kid.__They'll finally see me for who I really am!_

And for the first time, Yellow was enthusiastic about being a warrior in training.

…

Silver walked as quietly as possible, which, for Silver, was nearly silently. In one hand, he held the book he had taken out of the library. He hoped that Yellow hadn't seen which book he had taken, but he couldn't really tell if she did or not. She had seemed really spooked, but that could be attributed to the fact that Silver had almost run her over and she hadn't known anyone was there a second before. He certainly hoped that was the case. Having others be suspicious of him would make his task a lot harder, as he would have to get them to stay out of his way.

Some things just had to be kept a secret…

Silver made his way towards the edge of the forest. Once he was satisfied that no one was around, he opened the book, which was titled _Pokémon Related Items, Non-Combat._Glancing briefly at the table of contents, he turned carefully to the chapter he was looking for.

_Items That Control Legendary Pokémon, _read the words on top of the page.

_So this book _does_have the information I'm looking for, _he thought, feeling satisfied.

Silver's eyes flickered over the pages, silently reading their information. When he was finished, the corner of his mouth twitched upward into a half-smirk.

"So that's how you're doing it…" he said. "Clever."

Silver looked at the book in his hands. _You thought that controlling a legendary Pokémon would make you stronger than anyone else.__That you could do whatever you wanted to and no one could stop you. _Silver thought. _Well two can play that game! _


	6. Chapter 6: Arising Suspicions

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long for me to update my story! The first week of school has been really busy and prevented me from doing much writing. Here's the next chapter of my story. I hope it was worth the wait! :) Please read, review and enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Arising Suspicions

"Dark types are often black or red in coloration and usually have sharp claws," Professor Oak was explaining. "Along with ghost types, dark types are some the evilest Pokémon out there, not to mention one of the hardest types to deal with. But while they have few weaknesses, they aren't invincible. Can someone tell me what types dark Pokémon are weak to?"

Lyra raised her hand and volunteered the information. "Dark types are weak to fighting, bug and fairy type Pokémon attacks. They are also weak to magic element items."

"Very good," praised Professor Oak. "Alright, that's the end of today's lesson. You may be dismissed. Tomorrow's class will be on actual combat."

Most of the other warriors in training began to chatter excitedly about this, but Yellow felt conflicting emotions. She had always disliked conflict and she hated the idea of fighting Pokémon, especially now that she had befriended ChuChu. On the other hand, she now had a new resolve to prove herself as a capable warrior, if only to get people to stop underestimating her.

She decided to worry about that later. After all, she seemed to be doing well, based on her first three classes. This most recent class had been about the "mysterious" types of Pokémon: dark, ghost, psychic, fairy, poison and dragon. The warriors in training had not practiced identifying these Pokémon types, as they were difficult to find, not to mention extremely dangerous. After reading about several dark types while she was in the library, Yellow was glad not to have to encounter any of them.

But Yellow was going into the forest, even though it wasn't part of their lesson today. She still wanted to talk to ChuChu about the possibility of having healing powers. So Yellow made sure no one was watching her, before slipping away into the forest.

She didn't wander too far in, just enough that the trees hid her from outside view. The memory of her last journey into the forest echoed like a spoken warning in her mind. _Be careful, Yellow._

_I will, _she thought determinedly.

When she was satisfied that she was far enough into the forest, she called out. "ChuChu!"

Yellow waited a few minutes. It wasn't long before the bushes rustled and the Pikachu bounded out into the small clearing. She stood up and twitched her ears.

_Yellow! _the Pokémon cried happily. She ran towards the girl and leaped onto her shoulder, to Yellow's surprise. _It's good to see you again! I was a little worried that you wouldn't come back._

"Of course I came back! I'll visit you as often as I can," Yellow reassured her. "Just not too late at night. You know, when the mean Pokémon are around."

_Good, you remembered my warning, _said ChuChu, clearly pleased. _Anyway, I'm glad you came! There's someone I wanted you to meet._

"Who is it?" Yellow asked curiously.

ChuChu quivered excitedly and pointed a paw towards the bushes. There didn't appear to be anything significant about them. Yellow stared for a moment, then tilted her head slightly, confused. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

A moment later, her question was answered. Another Pikachu, this one a male, leaped out of the hedges. He bounded forward and stopped a few feet away from Yellow.

_A human? _he asked. Yellow could hear his voice in her mind, but his question seemed to be directed towards ChuChu. _Your friend is a human? You've got to be more careful!_

_She's different than other humans, _said ChuChu. She turned to Yellow and added apologetically, _Sorry about that. Pika is a little nervous around humans. __Someone tried to battle him yesterday, so he's skittish right now.__Yellow, meet my best friend, Pika. __Pika, this is Yellow! __I met her a few days ago, well actually- wow, that was just yesterday!- and she's really nice. __She told me that most people only battle Pokémon because they're scared of us. __They don't really want to hurt us at all!_

Pika looked at Yellow curiously. _Really?_

"That's right," said Yellow. "And it's nice to meet you."

Pika sniffed Yellow's leg cautiously and apparently deciding she was alright, he relaxed. _Nice to meet you too! _he said happily.

ChuChu jumped down from Yellow's shoulder and landed neatly in front of Pika. _See? I told you she was nice. __But you didn't believe me!_

_I never said that, _complained the boy Pikachu.

_You implied it, _said ChuChu.

Yellow laughed. The two Pikachu were just like her human friends. In fact, they reminded her a bit of her fellow warriors in training.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something," said Yellow to ChuChu.

_Ask away! _she replied cheerfully.

"You know how I have the power to talk to you guys?" Both the Pikachu's looked up at her, standing side by side. "Well, there was a legend about someone with the same powers as me during the war. He also had healing powers. So I was wondering if I might have healing powers too, because, you know, we both had the 'talking to Pokémon' power."

_I know the legend! _said ChuChu, leaping around Pika to stand directly in front of Yellow. _You're talking about the Pokémon's human friend who healed him when he got hurt saving the man from a falling tree._

Yellow realized that the version of the legend in the library had never stated the gender of the two Pokémon. It had been the human hero that the story focused around as the main character. But people had written that story- it only made sense that the Pokémon version of the legend centered on the Pokémon that accompanied the hero.

"Well?" she prompted. "Do you think it's possible that I have healing powers?"

_There's only one way to find out! _said Pika. He bounded past ChuChu and stopped in front of a bush that clearly had thorns on it. Using his paw, the Pikachu poked one of the thorns. A bead of blood welled up on the tiny cut. Pika ran back over to Yellow. _Try healing this!_

Yellow was about to point out that she wouldn't begin to know how to try to use any power she might have, but then she realized that she had already done so with her ability to talk to Pokémon. She would just have to experiment a bit.

Yellow kneeled down in front of Pika and focused on the tiny cut on his paw. Up close, it was obvious that it was only a small tear in the Pokémon's skin, just like any injury was. Yellow imagined the skin mending, joining together again to cover the wound. She imagined it the same way the cut would naturally heal, but much quicker. The mark would fade, the pain would disappear, until it was as if the injury had never been there at all. The cut would be completely healed.

She watched as the tiny cut on Pika's paw disappeared.

_It worked! _exclaimed ChuChu excitedly, running back and forth in front of Yellow, before leaping up onto her shoulder again. _You do have healing powers, Yellow!_

_My paw doesn't hurt at all anymore, _said Pika, putting his paw experimentally back on the ground. _It's like the cut was never there at all!_

_This is really cool, _thought Yellow, feeling thrilled. _Healing powers can be really useful, especially as a warrior in training. I'll be able to heal the others if they get hurt._

ChuChu had leaped back down off of Yellow's shoulder and was talking excitedly to Pika. They looked very alike, standing side by side. If Yellow didn't keep track of which Pikachu was which, she was going to get them mixed up.

She spotted a bush with pretty flowers on it. _Perfect! _she thought. She plucked one carefully and called ChuChu over. The slightly smaller Pikachu came running towards her.

"For you," said Yellow, putting the flower in the fur near ChuChu's ear. "So I can tell you guys apart more easily. I don't want to call you by the wrong name."

_It's beautiful! _said ChuChu happily. _Thanks, Yellow!_

Yellow smiled. "You're welcome."

It was cool having Pokémon friends.

…

"Yellow is hiding something!" announced Sapphire, slamming her hand down on the table Ruby was sitting at and making him jump. "And I'm going to find out what it is."

Ruby blinked in surprise, looking up from the book he was reading. "You sound like Blue," he commented. "You must have been hanging out with her too often."

Sapphire sighed, frustrated. "I'm serious," she said. "This is the second time she's snuck out into the forest alone. The forest is my place."

"And you're telling me this because…?"

"I want to go investigate," replied Sapphire confidently. "And you're coming with me."

"Why me of all people?" wondered Ruby. "You hate me."

"I know you won't tell anyone that I'm sneaking into the forest," she explained. "You're too scared that I'll beat you up if you do."

"Why not go alone?" he asked.

Sapphire hesitated. Here was the hard part. But it had to be done. Might as well do it quickly and get it over with. "Because we make a good team," she admitted reluctantly. "I don't like it, but it's a fact. That's why you're coming with me. Besides, I'm strong enough to force you to come, so you don't really have a choice at all."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Sapphire was relieved. "Okay," he said.

"Let's go now!" she said and dragged him with her into the forest.

They weren't really supposed to go in the woods without a teacher, but Sapphire had done it plenty of times before. Experience (and a few lessons from Blue) had taught her how to sneak past anyone who was supposed to be making sure the warriors in training didn't go into the forest.

So Ruby and Sapphire snuck into the woods. It was a beautiful day, with the sunlight streaming through the trees in beams of gold, green and amber. Bird Pokémon chirped rather charmingly from the branches, so that Sapphire almost forgot they were dangerous. The wind rustled through the leaves and somewhere nearby, a stream trickled peacefully through the forest.

More distantly, Sapphire heard the voice of someone talking. Sapphire stopped and listened. There it was again. The voice was definitely Yellow's. It sounded like she was talking to someone, but Sapphire couldn't hear any of the other person's replies. She frowned. That was strange. Maybe whoever it was just had a quiet voice.

"This way," she said to Ruby, and began walking in the direction of Yellow's voice.

Soon enough, Ruby seemed to hear Yellow's voice too. He began to walk in the right direction, passing Sapphire, who was walking slowly so she could listen and try to make out the words that were being said. She focused on her hearing so that everything else was blocked out.

The voices were getting louder. They must have been getting close. Excited that they were about to figure out what Yellow was up to, Sapphire quickened her pace.

Based on the little amount of attention she was paying to anything besides her hearing, including where she was walking, Sapphire supposed she shouldn't have been too surprised when Ruby stopped suddenly and she crashed into him.

"What-?" she began, before she saw what had made him stop.

In front of their path was a rather large white Pokémon. It stood with its head lowered slightly, pointing its single navy blue horn at them. Its claws, which were the same color as its horn, looked rather sharp and its red eyes gleamed maliciously. The Pokémon didn't move from its fighting stance. It simply glared at them for a moment before growling softly and ominously.

Ruby yelped in what Sapphire thought was a seriously pathetic manner. He leaped backwards, crashing into Sapphire, who was already standing there.

"Watch it!" she snapped. "You stepped on my foot!"

"Do you see that thing?" retorted Ruby. "Look how scary it is!"

"So?" she hissed in his ear. "Go around it."

"Are you kidding?" demanded Ruby. "It's obviously guarding that path."

"Who cares?" she replied. "This is what we're training for! To know how to fight Pokémon if we need to! Seriously, don't be such a _baby_. I'll go first if you're so scared." She pushed him roughly out of the way and started towards the Pokémon confidently.

The Pokémon took a step forward as well, blocking her path, and growled again, slightly louder this time. The message was clear. _Turn back._

Sapphire had no intention of doing so, but Ruby grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Come on, let's get out of here!" he yelled, either ignoring or not noticing Sapphire's glare. "You can fight Pokémon _later _and _in class, _where you won't get killed!"

"No way!" she shouted. "I'm not scared, even if you are!"

The Pokémon took another step closer, still growling.

"It's going to hurt us!" panicked Ruby.

Sapphire rolled her eyes. "Fine! We'll leave! But you owe me!"

"Deal!" said Ruby, obviously terrified at the thought of staying in the forest while the Pokémon still looked ready to attack. "Let's get out of here."

…

Absol watched as the two meddlesome children left the clearing, one of them hurriedly, the other reluctantly, bickering the entire way. Satisfied that it had gotten them to leave, it turned away. Some things were meant to be. Absol could not allow the two young humans to interfere with Yellow's destiny, regardless if they were her friends or not.

And as it shifted its gaze to look through the bushes and watch Yellow in another clearing nearby, talking with the two Pikachu, it saw that her destiny had already begun.


End file.
